Chernoff Faces, Glanceable UI, and Wearables

Like my award winning Mango + Mole chili there are some things call out to be mixed together.

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Take wearables oriented toward health & wellness delivering dry information. When people are exercising they also need motivation and encouragement. How can we take those quick glaneable UIs which physical exercise usage calls for but make them more like a coach who encourages you. Motivates you. Urges you to do better.

Perhaps a “Chernoff Coach.”

This “coaches face” conveys not just motivation but also conveys encouragement. A glanceable UI that conveys not just how you are doing but prompts you to improve.

Chernoff faces are glanceable UIs.  20-30 different data elements can be conveyed in a standard Chernoff face. No one has taken the human like face and taken advantage of it being a face, an actor.

It is dealing with the challenge of conveying information. Most glanceable displays try to thin out the information or reduce the set of variable. But instead take a Chernoff Face approach.  It directly attacks making a GLANCEABLE UI by using our inherent human specific talent of being able to see, recognize, interpret, and understand FACES. Faces are a basic element of our fundamental glacing at the phenomenological level.

When can I buy my Chernoff Coach on a wrist?

“I Want My Chernoff Coach On A Wrist!”

Some of Chernoff’s original points in his article might support this possible new use of Chernoff faces.

“Certain major characteristics of the faces are instantly observed and easily remembered in terms of emotions and appearance.”

“The major advantage to be derived from using the faces should be in the heightened qualitative awareness of which numerical calculations are relevant.”

 

References

The Use of Faces to Represent Points in K-Dimensional Space Graphically by Herman Chernoff 1973

 

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